Lynn Remly; Hudson, OH

Most travelers head for foreign parts to explore and learn things they didn’t know before. Those of us who joined Viking River Cruises’ “Footsteps of the Cossacks” river trip from Odessa to Kiev (Oct. 6-17, 2010) learned a great deal about a country that is relatively little visited: Ukraine.

The second-largest country in Eastern Europe, Ukraine is also one of the oldest. As we cruised the Dnieper River northward from Odessa to the capital, Kiev, we...

by Regine Schumacher, Seal Beach, CA

Someone once said that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away.

Geographic Expeditions, my favorite tour company, arranged a private trip for my friend Thelma and me to Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) which took my breath away many times.

A great beginning

In June 2010, after a very long flight, we arrived in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. From there...

by Nancy Logan; Jamestown, RI

My husband, Joe, and I went to Xi’an, China, with Global Volunteers in 2002 for one of our most unforgettable vacations. For two weeks we stayed in a hotel with 16 other volunteers and each weekday we went to a large school to help with their English program.

In October 2010 we again traveled with Global Volunteers to a special place, this time visiting Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, with 14 other volunteers ranging in age from their 20s to...